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A tall man came onto the stage carriyng a stack of parchment and a bell. Two came after him with a small podium between them. The tall man lay the parchments on the podium and began ringing the bell.

"If I may have your attention ladies and gentlemen; the auction will now commence, offering a sublime shipment of dwarf warriors suited for labour of all sorts."

As he said this, four guards began herding the Dvergar to the center of the stage and lining them up, so that Rugo's pole was at the end.

"First, we have the brave Grorim... what's this say ... Giri...rams..s..sone, a lieutenant in the savage warband that was captured some four years ago in the caves which will soon be the latest expansion of our kingdom."

A black haired, shaven Dvergar with broad shoulders was pushed forward. Grorim Gririgramsson, thought Rugo. One of the finest warriors in his warband. He was proud to have made him his second in command.

"Have we any bids for this well-seasoned chunk of dwarf flesh?"

Last edited by Enkhoffer on Tue May 31, 2011 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"What a waste of time.." thought Napheto. "I guess I have to wait my turn."

Some eager bidders began calling out amounts of Ada. The Drow child thought these bidders to be far too hasty. "If they spend all their money now they will not get a chance at the better slaves. This could turn out to be not such a waste of time."

"Going once... going twice... Sold! To the lovely young man in front."

*Grorim was taken behind the stage and delivered to his new owner. He would serve in the boy's father's mines.*

"Next up is the crafty Valin Dawn, a skillful smith specializing in weapons and armour. Any bids?"

*One by one, the Dvergar were sold to any and all task one can think of. Some for housework, some for mining, some for bodyguards and some again for fighting for the entertainment of others. At last there were three dwarves left on the stage: Hadro, Rugo, and between them a young and untalented spearfighter named Dulon.*

"We only have a few left now. The next one is Dulon Fourtoe, a young warrior with a great deal of potential. He is young and strong, and can serve you for many, many years. Have we any bids?"

*Dulon was quickly sold, though not at as high a cost as the auctioneer had hoped.*

"Right.. Next, the mighty warrior Hadro Stonemail. I am pleased to say that he more than anyone in his colony has made peace with his circumstances, and he is ready for a life of labour. This one is a prize, ladies and gentlemen, what are your bids?"

A strong voice boomed from the crowd as Durin placed his bid. True to his word, he had been about the crowd, convincing them as best he could that these last two dwarves were rebellious and defective, and so he was able to place a bid less than the dwarf's tue value, but hopefully higher than anyone else would want to bid thanks to his efforts.

As Hadro was brought to the front he seemed to be the same as before; sulking, moping, disgruntled. Napheto felt the urge to push the situation onward.

The boy gave a shout, "Come on, Hadro! Instead of standing there with your head hanging you should show the crowd what you are made of!!" A wily, toothy grin could be seen spreading under the shadow of Napheto's hood.

Hadro had had enough. There was only so much a Dwarf could take before snapping. He had listened to that bastard tell the crowd he was tamed, he had listened to them all bartering over him like a piece of meet, he had listened to his brother try to save him. But being sold to a bastard Drow was more than the Dwarf could bear despite what he had told himself. The memories of the atrocities they had done him flickered through his head in fast sequence. He could not, would not be their slave nor their toy! Hadro roared out loud like a wounded beast and began thrashing against his chains. Taking no eed to the injury the chains did to his ankles and his wrists. He shouted curses at them all in his native languages then translated for their benefit.“Maggots! WORMS! BASTARDS! I’LL DIE BEFORE SERVING THE LOT OF YOU! I’LL DIE! MAY CROWS GNAW AT YOU ALL!”

*Rugo smiled wide at his brother regaining his Dvergar courage. Motioning the loosened gag down below his chin he decided to join in.*

"WE COME WITH AXES! WE COME WITH FIRE! THE OUR PEOPLE KILL AND NEVER STOP! YOU WILL DIE BY THE HAND OF US!BALMALUNG! BALMALUNG!"

*The guard standing a few steps behind Rugo now rushed to replace the cloth over his mouth and to calm the dwarf down. When the hand of the guard grapped hold of the cloth, Rugo lunged forward with his head and bit down upon the Drow's hand. He bit down until he could hear bones crack and blood ran warm into his mouth.*

Durin laughed a great, booming laugh, for the benefit of the whole crowd, showing his knowing and contempt of the auctioneer as the dwarves misbehaved and the crowd recoiled, pulling faces of disgust. The dwarf smirked broadly as he watched the crowd begin to withdraw bids, then spoke in the most carrying and imposing voice he could muster, so that all would hear.

"Liars and swindlers! As I have said, these dwarves will serve no drow well. You have tried to cheat these people. Now no one will bid on the dwarves, and I must say, I do wonder as to the quality of what you have already sold! I told you these duergar are rabid amongst your kind, fit only to serve another duergar, not drow. But you, you thought you could still cheat your fellows, and you did not listen."

"I was being generous before... I will be even more generous now, considering what you deserve for your lies. I will give you twenty-five. For the both of them."

*The auctioneer glanced desperately around him. The stage was chaos, guards running between the two furious dwarves. One of them had managed to pull his maimed hand from the bared teeth of Rugo, blood staining the Dvergar's beard.He seriously cosidered the strange dwarf's offer, and found him to be right. If the crowd was not disgusted at the scene taking place, it was roaring with laughter. Shooting a fiery gaze at Durin, he finally said:*

Durin smiled. He'd come here hoping he could save maybe one dwarf, but in the end he'd freed two and dealt ruinous damage to a slave trader's reputation. It was days like these, he knew he was doing what was right. Even if he had not been able to save all of them, some was far better than none. Today was a small victoriy where victories of any measure had been far too few. Today was a good day for the dwarves.

Gathering his "new slaves" behind him, he departed quickly, ushering them drom the scene and attempting to impress haste, explaining matters as he urged them along. By right of trade they were "his," and therefore free, but this was Chel. He certainly wouldn't put it past the jilted auctioneers to go for revenge and try to make up their losses with force if they weren't careful, but if they could make it to the Nal'sar'koth holdings, then they would be safe until the three of them could finally leave this wretched hive.

"As to your axe, Askalgar," he concluded, "As the black sun have no house to be sold to, you would not have been able to enact your plan. But at my side, I promise you someday we will seek out the wretches, and reclaim Balmalung. You have my oath on it."

Never before had Napheto witnessed such a rarity, and with the closing of the auction he figured he would not get another such opportunity. Durin herded his new 'possessions' down the road away from the auction. The young drow followed after them.

Within moments he was walking in step with the three of them. His grinning maw just barely visible under the shadowed cowl. He glanced sidelong at Durin and spoke in such a way as to let his voice carry to the two slaves, "Successful day at the market, I see. You certainly found yourself with the two sturdiest 'specimens'. Now you can look forward to their working hard for you, cycle-in and cycle-out".